Whats a good way to get up the mast on your own?

[rogerthebodger]

Very good. Any more suggestions - struck by lightning, attacked by seagulls?

Both of those are also possible if you have climbed the mast.

Working at height is always potential dangerous you just have to limit the danger.

I would certainly consider using a cheery picker with a boat on the hard.

Doing work at the top of a mast from a bridge or ship would be the safest IMHO.

 

[HughClayton]

and just to add to my earlier comment ..... if you are going to climb using climbing gear then hoisting up a climbing rope will save wear on your halyards, making a wooden swing seat to sit on once your up and clipping on a bucket for tools all make things easier.

but it’s not for the faint hearted of those who aren’t confident using the gear to go safely up and, just as importantly, down.

 

[Daydream believer]

1) if you have to ask how to do it, don't even think of going up a mast without assistance.
2) don't underestimate the awkwardness of doing any useful work while you are up there.

I don't like antennas on the pushpit, they have short range and get broken a lot.
For this season, mount it on a 2m pole secured to the pushpit.

as suggested post #2
But you are dead right with 1 & 2

Guess who went up the mast with only one halyard & managed to drill through it when at the top & then began to loose consiousness after 3.5 hours on a hot day & was fortunately lowered a bit sharppish before he came down even quicker than intended
I do not know what was worse- the thought of death or the £ 220 for a new halyard

 

[Laser310]

that boat looks like it has external halyards- does it?

if so i wouldn't go up on anything hoisted up to the top.

 

[Ian_Rob]

Then some one motors past at speed creating a wake such the mast wings a meter or more hitting you in the face and knocking the cheery picker over.

At least it you are tied to the mast you cn just hold on tight until the wake stops.

I am not sure that that is necessarily a problem? There is a cherry picker at a marina in Cowes that is used for such purposes and presumably there are others elsewhere?. A friend of mind used it last summer to release the vane on his windex Reasonably priced too at £35/hr I seem to recall.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I am not sure that that is necessarily a problem? There is a cherry picker at a marina in Cowes that is used for such purposes and presumably there are others elsewhere?. A friend of mind used it last summer to release the vane on his windex Reasonably priced too at £35/hr I seem to recall.

That may be so where you are, but where I was we had 2 issues.

1) My walk on mooring was at least 500m along a floating jetty from land so would have to put a cheery picker onto a barge to reach my boat
2) The commercial power boats would speed past my walk on mooring and even they would be reported no action was ever taken.

 

[jamie N]

that boat looks like it has external halyards- does it?

if so i wouldn't go up on anything hoisted up to the top.

I've no knowledge of any of mast ascending stuff, but why not with external halyards?
Genuine question.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I've no knowledge of any of mast ascending stuff, but why not with external halyards?
Genuine question.

Because if the block at the top of the mast fails you will fall to the deck with a crash.

If the halyard goes over a block mounted in the mast and the the goes down inside the mast and the block fails the halyard is still retained at the top of the mast.

The only issue you will have is how to get down .

 

[Laser310]

Because if the block at the top of the mast fails you will fall to the deck with a crash.

i'm sure it was intended.., but just to make it clear; the block can fail.., or the attachment of the block to the top of the mast can fail.., and either would cause you to fall.

the boat looks old - i don't even go up on external halyards on new boats.., although people do.

if you have inspected the block - maybe put a new high-quality block in place.., and inspected the attachment.., seized the shackle.., and you have two halyards that you have done that for and can use one as a backup- then it might be safe.

i usually go up on two halyards even on boats with internal halyards

 

[Ian_Rob]

That may be so where you are, but where I was we had 2 issues.

1) My walk on mooring was at least 500m along a floating jetty from land so would have to put a cheery picker onto a barge to reach my boat
2) The commercial power boats would speed past my walk on mooring and even they would be reported no action was ever taken.

Good to flag this.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Thanks for all the answers. But I think ratlines would be a lot easier to climb than going up a halyard with a prussik knot... Thats a very slow and labour intense way to get up and down.

I know its the usual way but I dont think anyone actually considered my idea. Is it that stupid?

And the picture was the Kurun with its Captain La Tourmelin. Shes not mine, I wish. My boat is a 22ft Cirrus by Westerly. I just wanted to show you what those ratlines look like (when I posted I didnt know that this is the name of those steps).

 

[rogerthebodger]

ratline will only get you so far up the mast not all the way to the top.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Hm. Right.

 

[sgr143]

I'm another who uses climbing gear and a bar-tight main halyard; ascenders or prussic loops to a climbing harness .... As noted earlier, getting the line length between ascender and harness/step just the right length to suit yourself is critical to making it quick/comfortable/easy and whilst I've done it alone, I don't recommend it; have someone someone down on deck tailing a jib halyard as a safety line.

I'm a long-time caver. Cavers routinely go up and down free-hanging ropes, using what they call "SRT" (Single Rope Technique). This is similar to the climbers' prussiking systems, but somewhat refined for routine use. There are several manuals on it available through outdoor shops, a decent Wikipedia overview of the basics, and my own caving club's basic "how-to" guide.
http://www.oucc.org.uk/technical/SRT_v3_2007.pdf
I have always used my SRT kit for going up the mast, and it's safe and easy - if you know what you are doing. Unlike BobnLesley, I'm happier without an additional safety line, as I'm confident in my technique, one more rope is an additional complication, and also as my SRT kit includes "cow's tails" - two safety cords attached to the sit harness's central maillon rapide that I clip round the mast or shrouds to limit any fall I might take if I screw up. Going up is easy; abseiling down is easy (even so, practice first in safe circumstances, and maybe get a friendly caver* to show you how); the tricky bit is changing over from prusik to abseil at the top of the mast. This is a manoeuvre that cavers seldom have to do (climbers likewise, I should think) , and it needs practice within reach of help before you are committed to doing it while swaying about alone at the top of a mast.
The worst part of it for me is that it's all done in the light, and the higher you go up, the wobblier everything gets. Down a nice dark cave, you can't see how far down it is, and the closer you get to the rope's attachment point, the more solid everything feels. Maybe I should do masthead work only at night, and in a steady cold downpour for extra verisimilitude.
Steve
* they do exist. Offering beer usually works.

 

[jamie N]

Because if the block at the top of the mast fails you will fall to the deck with a crash.

If the halyard goes over a block mounted in the mast and the the goes down inside the mast and the block fails the halyard is still retained at the top of the mast.

The only issue you will have is how to get down .

Ah, I see. I was thinking in terms of my own mast where the halyard goes through a sheave 'in' the wooden mast, from one side to the other.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Search for the many, many posts on this topic.

 

[Pye_End]

Hello, I just recieved my new vhf antenna and I REALLY dont want to lower the mast again. So I thought climbing it.

I am not sure if thats safe with the weight on the top of the mast. I feel like the boat might capsize or at least heave a lot. Its only a 1,5 ton boat with a fin keel. No bulb.

So how I would go out about doing this: every half a meter or so I would tie horizontal ropes in between the parallel shrouds to create a ladder. (Old boats used to do this a lot) to get up safely and without needing a second person to pull me up with a halyard and harness and such.

Im on a pontoon here so Id secure an extra docking to the mast fairly far way up and a cleat on the opposite side of where I would climb up to keep the boat from falling over.

This way I could climb up whenever I need to do any work WITHOUT having to lower and raise the mast all the time.

Thoughts?

It may well be that the only way you will know whether it stays upright with you at the top is to try it - ie in a traditional way with a chair, or with mast steps. I have been up a Sonata which is only just over 1t (lift keel version) without mishap.

Current boat I use webbing hoistable steps secured to the mast track ( you can also use it on a mast without track), and various bits of string/rope etc. and a climbing harness to use as safety lines. Works well single handed.

 

[Chris CJ]

Search for the many, many posts on this topic.

Mastaclimba might be a safer way !

 

[[70521]]

This way I could climb up whenever I need to do any work WITHOUT having to lower and raise the mast all the time.

I have not tried this, but will do when it gets warmer.

 

[BobnLesley]

...How does the wooden step work? I do get fed up with the pressure on my you-know-whats.

Simply an offcut of 3 x 2" timber about 16" long with a hole drilled at each end and a knotted rope looped between the two holes; that arrangement is connected to one ascender and my climbing harness to the other, sit in the harness and lift lift your feet, raise the step's ascender, stand up straight and raise the climbing harness ascender; don't try to go too far (6-8" is enough) on each manouvre, you'll make more moves, but each will be faster/less effort. I particularly like the step as with properly adjusted ascender ropes, I can get it to within about 4' of the masthead, so once there I can secure myself securely to the mast by passing a safety harness around it and me and stand/work there comfortably with good visibility and both hands free for doing the job.